The Night the Earth Stood Still
by tenthintardis
Summary: The TARDIS takes the Doctor, Amy, and Rory to London in 1939. They meet a young orphaned girl who has nightmares and hears voices when she's alone in her home. They've got to try and free the child from her fears.
1. Chapter 1

The night the earth stood still. Literally. It was because of the Doctor, of course. There was no way around it. We would be dead if it weren't for him. But that's typically the case with the Doctor anyway.

My name is Amelia Williams, and I had the privilege to know the alien man called the Doctor since I was only a little girl. He left me, though. Then he came back, and I've been travelling around the universe, seeing things I could never fathom, ever since, with The Doctor, my best friend.

The night the earth stood still; the night no one remembers.

No one wants to be alone in an eerily dark room. Some people don't want to be alone at all. Well, there are monsters who want us to be. Ever wonder who that voice in your head is when you talk to yourself? There's a monster called the Vaxic. It feeds off the loneliness of humans. It makes us think negative thoughts. It's the reason for unknown suicide reasons and the reason for children wanting their parents in their rooms until they're asleep. And I've met it. I've survived the Vaxic.

"Where should we go this time?" asked the Doctor, ready and waiting to pull levers and push buttons on the TARDIS console.

"Can we go back in time? On earth?" I asked. History had always intrigued me for some reason. Especially my own.

"To when?" asked Rory. My perfect husband, Mr. Pond. I couldn't have asked for better.

"Oh, I don't know. Somewhere in the 1900s though. I used to like watching old shows on the telly and wondering how life was really like back then."

"Alright then, back in time to the 1900s. Random year!" the Doctor announced, running around the TARDIS console pushing buttons and pulling levers.

"Geronimo," he whispered,looking at me, "Step outside those doors now and you'll be in a century of progress. Of technology and television and air conditioning! The century the human race accelerated."

I ran to the door, took a deep breath, and pulled it open.

We landed in London. I didn't know what the year was yet, but it was beautiful.

The cars were so old-looking. All the women were wearing dresses, it looked like something straight out of a film.

"Wow," I said, barely audible, "I might need to get a dress. I stand out! But then again, I'm with a bow tie wearing alien."

"It's cool," the Doctor retorted. I rolled my eyes.

"What are we gonna do here?" asked my husband.

"Anything we desire. But let's find out the year, first," said the Time Lord.

I looked around my surroundings and spotted a newspaper stand straight away.

"Here!" I said, walking over to it. I didn't have any money to buy one, so I looked through the glass at the date.

"31 August 1939," I read.

"We should leave. We should really leave," the Doctor nervously said.

"1939...isn't that the year World War Two began?" added Rory.

"Well it doesn't look like there's a war on," I protested.

The Doctor started walking through the streets, Rory and I trailing behind.

"That's because the war hasn't started yet, Rory!" said the Doctor, gritting his teeth, walking nervously through the streets.

"Then what's the big deal?" I asked.

"The war starts tomorrow," he said solemnly.

Rory and I both stopped dead in our tracks.

"Okay... Well, we could...," I began.

"We could just have a look around today and leave later this afternoon," added Rory.

At that moment, I noticed a girl, maybe six or seven years of age, sitting alone on a bench outside a bakery, her head bowed. She looked like she hadn't bathed in days.

"Doctor," I said, "Look at that little girl, shouldn't we help her?"

"I knew there was a reason I liked you," the Time Lord replied, smiling. The three of us went over to the young girl.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor, and this is Amy and Rory. What's your name?"

"Amethyst," she whispered, lifting her head a millimetre.

"That's a lovely name, Amethyst. Where are your parents?" I asked, sitting down on the bench beside her.

"I don't have any parents," she admitted. My heart sank. This poor child. I looked at my husband, and then at my best friend. We had to help this girl.

"You're an orphan?" asked Rory.

"No, my parents are dead but I'm definitely not an orphan," Amethyst retorted. Hm, interesting. I knew I liked her.

"Does it make you sad?" the Doctor interjected, his facial expression the same.

"I'm alone in the world. I don't have anyone to look after me, to make sure I've got clean clothes and good food and a warm place to sleep. Yes, it makes me sad."

"How old are you?" I asked her.

"Twelve," was the reply. This poor child was twelve years old, yet she looked no more than nine or ten.

"Where do you live?" I asked Amethyst.

"The house my parents died in. I live there by myself. I haven't got any family," she answered. I was about to cry.

"Can we go there with you?" the Doctor asked her.

Amethyst looked up at us, finally. Her eyes held sadness and loss, but there was a glimmer of hope.

"No! I hate that place. I have nightmares and it always seems like someone's watching me. It's scary, and even more scary because I'm alone," a single tear rolled down her cheek.

I knew the Doctor couldn't resist helping the poor child. He never can resist children crying.

"I thought there were orphanages you could live in," Rory stated blankly.

"Rory! Why would she want to live in an orphanage? Those are rubbish!" I told my husband.

Amethyst nodded in agreement.

"Please, Amethyst. Take us to your home. I think you'll find we can definitely help you with your nightmare problem. Will you let us help?" the Doctor asked calmly.

"Please," came the soft response, "Help me, Doctor."

My alien friend took Amethyst's hand, and the four of us began to make our way to Amethyst's run-down home she'd been staying in. I couldn't imagine what'd it be like to live by myself. No family, no money, no Rory... It would be my own personal hell.

"How far is it?" Rory panted.

"Not much farther!" replied Amethyst. After making our way past shops, pedestrians, and homes, not to mention the odd looks we received from people on the streets, we came to a small cottage at the end of a street with red brick and black shutters. The grass in the yard was completely brown, there were no flowers or bushes; no greenery at all. Nothing to spike a bit of interest in the eye. The four of us walked up the narrow sidewalk and Amethyst opened the door for us.

The interior was bleak, the furniture looked like it hadn't been used in months. Cobwebs had taken over parts of the house. The corners of the baby blue wallpaper was falling off. There were no signs of life and I felt the urge to leave. No wonder she didn't like it here.

"Well, this is it. The only place I could call home," Amethyst announced.

"So when do you feel like someone's watching you? All the time or just at night?" asked the Doctor, analysing everything in sight.

"At night, mostly, when I'm feeling alone in the world and crying myself to sleep," she answered.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver, pressed the button and waved it in front of everything in sight.

"Doctor?" I asked, "What if it's some alien that wants scared little kids?" He turned and looked at me, "That's not possible, is it? It probably is, isn't it."

"Amelia Pond you might be on to something!"

The Doctor turned to Amethyst and took her aside.

"What does it say to you? What does it sound like?"

"Just... A voice. The same one every night. Then I hear a scream, and it's morning. That's my relief. Morning," she explained.


	2. Chapter 2

"What are you scared of?" the Gallifreyan asked softly.

"Being alone," came the timid response, "I hate it. I'm also a bit scared of the dark, even though that sounds quite childish. When I'm alone in the dark, something happens. I start to hear voices in my head. 'We see you', they say. It truly scares me. I used to think it was just my insanity from losing my family, but I've been on my own for quite some time now and I think it's really starting to get to me."

Amethyst turned to me.

"Where are you three from?" she asked.

I looked at the Doctor, and he nodded, letting me know it was okay to tell Amethyst the truth.

At that moment, Rory pulled me aside.

"Can we do this?" he asked, motioning the Doctor to join us.

"Of course we can," I assured him.

"She's just a little girl. What harm can come to us if she knows where we're from?" concluded the Doctor.

I let out a deep breath, trying to gather my thoughts. What would our story sound like to a normal person? Well, I guess Amethyst isn't exactly what most people would call "normal", but she's not a time traveller.

"We're from the year 2012," I began, "Well, we are," I added, taking my husband's hand in mine, "but he's not," I looked at the Doctor, and back to Amethyst.

"How'd you get here then? And what's 2012 like? I wonder if I'll still be around..." she wondered.

This time it was the Doctor who spoke, his words piercing through time and space as he explained his importance in all of this.

"I'm a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. I've got a ship called the TARDIS that can travel anywhere in time and space. I'm 945 years old, and just happened upon Amy a long time ago, and she and Rory have been travelling with me for a long while," the alien explained.

"They always told us in school that wasn't possible," Amethyst stated, "I guess the teachers were wrong."

I smiled. She actually believed us. Usually we just get funny looks and questions, but Amethyst was indeed different.

Her eyes sparkled like she'd discovered something no one else knew about. Well, she had.

"Can you help me, though? Can your knowledge of the future help me?" she wondered aloud.

I thought we had a leg up on the whole "World-War-Two-starts-tomorrow" thing. We knew what and when was gonna happen.

"It may assist us, but we've only got till tomorrow. We have to leave by tomorrow afternoon," the Doctor responded, frowning.

"Why? What's tomorrow? Something bad?" our new friend asked.

"World War Two," Rory announced. Nice going, stupid face. He should've let her know gently.

"What? Surely this time a war can be avoided, especially a world war!"

The Doctor let out a huge sigh and buried his face in his hands.

"Rory! You can't tell her the future!"

My husband looked confused, but that's almost normal for him.

"Why not? It's been a possibility for quite a while now, or back then, well, now, here, in this year. Yeah..." Rory defended himself, quite badly, I must add. The Doctor stared at Rory and rolled his eyes. He intertwined his fingers after straightening his ridiculous bow tie.

"Now," he said in that powerful voice that can turn back alien armies, "Let's defeat the Vaxic," and turned back to Amethyst.

He intertwined his fingers after straightening his ridiculous bow tie.

"Now," he said in that powerful voice that can turn back alien armies, "Let's defeat the Vaxic."

I swiftly turned to look at the Doctor.

"The what?"

He began to walk over towards me, an expression of anger and sadness upon his face.

"The Vaxic. They're another race of creatures from a planet called Raxicoricofallopatorious. I met the other inhabitants of that planet a while back ago. They live off the negative emotions of other living things. Amethyst falls into that category."

I looked over at Amethyst, who had sat down in one of the very few chairs in the now dark room. She looked like she'd seen a ghost.

"Is it eating me?" she timidly asked.

The Doctor let out a small chuckle.

"No, silly, it can't eat you. It just drains you of positive emotions until you're completely unhappy and have forgotten what anything good or happy or...or...human...is," he explained.


	3. Chapter 3

"And it's doing this to me?" asked Amethyst. She started to look a little scared, worried, even.

"It probably wants to," the Doctor answered, taking the child's hands and kneeling down to eye level with her, "Your parents, do you remember how they died-what they died of?"

She looked at the ground for a moment before facing the Doctor.

"Mum went mad. She was...depressed, I guess. Didn't do anything for weeks. I had a baby sister, too. Melody, her name was," She paused. The Doctor glanced at Rory, then me. I knew we were all thinking the same thing. Melody. Could it possibly be our Melody? "I don't remember what happened to her. Don't know whether she's dead or alive. Mum just...stopped. Stopped taking care of her and paying attention to her. Melody wasn't even a year old."

Amethyst's eyes began to tear up.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell us what you don't want us to know," I put my arms around her shoulders and tried to comfort her.

"No, she needs to tell us everything, Amelia," corrected the Doctor. I put my hands above my head, being sarcastic to my beat friend, like usual, stepped away from Amethyst and let the Time Lord do what he wanted.

"When was Melody born?" the Doctor asked. Apparently he was thinking the same thing I was.

"I don't remember. She was adopted. I was... Five? I'm not quite sure the year."

"Did you ever meet her biological parents?" I interjected.

"No."

Rory and I exchanged glances. We were definitely thinking the same thing. This Melody could very well be our daughter. The Doctor turned and looked at us, raising his left eyebrow. He stood up and said, "Excuse me a moment, Amethyst. I just need to talk about something with Amy and Rory the Roman here for a second. He stepped toward my husband and I and took one of each of our hands. The Doctor dragged us to what must have been the kitchen. I'd never know for sure. It was a complete mess.

"Is she talking about our Melody? River?" asked Rory.

"I don't know. She could be, since she doesn't know when or where Melody was born or who her real parents are," the Doctor answered. I was beginning to get a little worried. The Silence took my baby from me at Demon's Run, but if she was here, were the Silence keeping watch on Amethyst and her family?

"Doctor, let's say it is the same Melody. Would the Silence be watching the family? Is that maybe why Amethyst's parents died? The Silence?" I quietly mentioned. Rory stared at me for a second that seemed to last an eternity.

"That actually makes a bit of sense. Is it possible?" asked my husband.

The Time Lord looked up at Rory, his eyes heavy with sorrow.

"That is exactly what happened. The Silence also must have sent the Vaxic to get rid of Amethyst. Lazy species, the Silence. They could easily do it themselves, but no," he tried to lighten the mood. It wasn't really working. I still felt a bit awkward talking about my daughter and the fact that the Silence took her. I might never see Melody again. Sure, River's still here, but she's all grown up and, I must add, quite the lady. But I'll never get to raise my own daughter! Life's not fair, I guess. Actually, most people who say that don't know aliens exist. They don't know the dangers of traveling around the universe. So yeah, life's not fair, but my life is more unfair that most people's. My life isn't fair.

As all of the confusion and sadness was swirling around in my head, the Doctor had summoned Amethyst.

"We've got to get back to my ship. The longer we stay here the more the Vaxic can drain you, Amethyst. Come with us."

"Your ship? Don't say you came here on an ocean!" her eyes widened as she crossed her arms.

"Not a ship ship, a space ship. Come along, Ponds! And you, Amethyst."

I started to follow my alien friend as usual, but stopped when I noticed Amethyst continuing to stand still.

"Well, come on!" I said.

"Why?" she asked timidly, "The three of you don't make any sense!"

Oh, here we go. The ginger Scottish girl with two English blokes, little does anyone know that one's a bow tie-wearing alien.

"I know how you're feeling. I met the Doctor when I was only a bit younger than you. He didn't have a bow tie yet, but the man was still pretty eccentric..."


End file.
